Here is a rundown of Cheddar News' top market stories of the day.
TECH LAYOFFS
Multiple outlets are reporting that Microsoft will begin a series of planned layoffs on Wednesday that could cut around 5 percent of its workforce, or 10,000 employees. CEO Satya Nadella warned the cuts were coming, and said the next couple of years were likely to be challenging, as the tech sector contracts after a decade plus of rapid growth. Amazon is also set to move ahead with plans to cut 6 percent of its 350,000 corporate employees.
ADOBE'S DATA DEBACLE
Adobe is facing backlash from customers who are concerned the software company is using personal images and video to train artificial intelligence models such as OpenAI’s Dall-E. Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky denied the accusations in an interview with Bloomberg, saying: "We have never, ever used anything in our storage to train a generative AI model."
UNITED AIRLINES EARNINGS
United Airlines' fourth quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates on the heels of a rebound in travel demand. The company reported a 31 percent increase from the same period before the pandemic. The gains were made despite the airline flying 9 percent fewer trips and a litany of other challenges, from winter storms to labor shortages to supply chain disruptions.
UNIVERSITY BANS TIKTOK
The University of Texas at Austin is blocking access to TikTok on its Wi-Fi and wired networks. The move is a response to Gov. Greg Abbott's requirement that all state agencies delete the app from government-issued devices. The administration said it is also seeking to eliminate risks to information on the university's networks. University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University System have since implemented similar restrictions.
Upflex Co-founder and CEO Christophe Garnier discusses how his company is working with WeWork to establish the future of work and elaborates on how his startup will use $30 in new funding.
Dan Ives, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he provides his insight on what Elon Musk's presence means for Twitter, as well as how recent allegations against the Tesla CEO could impact both the social media platform and the EV giant.
Anthony Bartolacci, VP of Financial Institutions at Sensor Tower, joined Closing Bell to discuss the factors dragging down Snap and other social media and tech stocks.
David Stryzewski, CEO of Sound Planning Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that rate hikes are driving the market right now and outlines what must be in place for a stock rally.
Andrew Arons, Founder and Partner at Synergy Advisory Management Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down Tuesday's market action and provides his insight on Snap's historic slide after the comments made by CEO Evan Spiegel.
Peter Andersen, CIO at Andersen Capital Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down Monday's trading action and discusses whether this could be the start of a new rally or a blip in an otherwise disappointing stretch.
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
